While Maple Leafs coached Randy Carlyle played coy for a quick second saying “who” when asked about the status of the injured centre, he finally gave the information everyone wanted to hear.

“Bollie is actually having an assessment done right now, and I would say he’s a probable for us for tonight,” the coach said after his team’s gameday skate at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday morning.

“He has progressed along over the last three weeks to a point where he feels, and the doctors feel medically, that he’s close to 100% ready and we just have to make a decision on the last assessment here in the next two hours.”

That must come as a huge relief for the struggling Leafs, who have been patiently waiting for Bolland to return from a severed tendon in his left ankle that has seen him sidelined since Nov. 2. He was originally slated to get back into the lineup after the Olympic break, but he re-aggravated the injury during practise.

Bolland, who has only played in 15 games this season (six goals, 10 points, plus-4) before going down with the injury while playing the Canucks in Vancouver, was an integral part of the Leafs getting their season off to a good start and his return will be welcomed against the Canadiens at home on Saturday night.

“I don’t want to put too much emphasis on him specifically,” Carlyle said, “because the player hasn’t played in 60 games and it’s a lot to ask of him to come back in and be where he would have been coming out of training camp and playing with our hockey club early in the season.

“Again, we are looking for people to step up and Bollie has been a true professional since the time he’s been here and obviously his time in Chicago, winning two Stanley Cups and making a contribution there. So we have to think it’s a positive for our group and if our younger players and our older players can feed off his energy that would be a huge bonus … With the addition of a Bolland, it gives you a little more depth throughout your lineup, a veteran guy, and it kind of slots people more into where we had envisioned them at the beginning of the year.”

Toronto (36-27-9) sits fourth in the Atlantic Division, with 80 points in 71 games, three points behind third-ranked Montreal (38-26-7), which has played the same number of games. The Leafs hold a 2-1-1 edge in the season series and are looking to either shore up their tenuous wildcard position or climb back into a top-three ranking in the division.

To make room for Bolland, the Leafs sent Carter Ashton to the AHL Marlies. The forward will be available to play for the Marlies when they host the Milwaukee Admirals at Ricoh Coliseum this afternoon.

Ashton, 22, has three assists and 19 penalty minutes in 31 games with the Leafs this season.

It seemed as if something was afoot on the status of Bolland and/or injured goalie Jonathan Bernier when Carlyle made the media wait about 15 minutes more than usual before coming out to give his post-skate presser.

The news on Bernier wasn’t quite as good, however, as Carlyle said the goalie still wasn’t 100% and continues to be “day-to-day.”

“Until he’s a 100%, he’s not available to us,” Carlyle said of the team’s top ’keeper, who participated in the morning skate and has been practised Friday.

That means James Reimer will be in net once again as the Leafs try to end a three-game slide and gain some ground on their division foe in the fifth and final meeting between the two teams this season. Reimer has a career record of 5-3 and .919 save percentage against Montreal.

After the game, Toronto heads to New Jersey to take on the Devils. If Bernier is still not ready to go, Marlies callup Drew MacIntyre could see his first NHL start.

“I expect a building that’s going to have a lot of emotion, a lot of energy, two teams that are going to play extremely hard for the points that are available,” Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said of the game against the Canadiens. “We have to be composed and keep our emotions in check, because as a player there are a lot of emotions when you are preparing for the game. It starts right in the morning, you know who you are playing, what the points mean and where you are at in the standings. So it’s about us being prepared, we don’t want to be over-excited. We want to be even-keeled. We have to go out there and execute the game plan we have in place that we feel gives us the best chance to win because we’re playing a team that we know how they play, we know what to expect and there’s that rivalry there.”